A Plane Crash
by Viral
Summary: It began with a plane crash: now Ororo has decided to go back in the past and rescue her parents from the tragedy that ended their lives. As a treat for her, Bishop accompanies her on this life-altering journey.
1. Unfinished Business

**A Plane Crash**  
  


_They were all the results of a plane crash: little Ororo Munroe lost her parents, David and N'Dare Munroe, and became entrapped by her claustrophobia._  
  


Disclaimer: This notice will appear once throughout this story. It is only needed once and merely takes up space. I don't own Storm or any of the other X-Men. This is purely a non-profit story used to express the admiration a fan and his try at creativity.  
  


**April 16, 2002 6:30pm EST Westchester, NY**  
Caramel skin was lightly beat upon by the dim lights of the recessed lighting systems of the Library. The woman who owned this golden complexion also displayed long white hair which flowed with a lose curl down to the middle of her back. Her brown eyes scanned across a book as she sat with her legs crossed in a window seat. Her back was against a smooth wooden interior and the evening sky was letting only a small ounce of light into the room other than the man-made lighting. Her name was Ororo Munroe, and her residence was at the Xavier Institute for the Gifted. Gifted did not mean simply intellectually skilled. This school was for mutants.  
  


Mutants were believed to be the next phase for humans. They were born with extraordinary abilities that sparked during teenage years. And yes, Ororo was one of these mutants. Her abilities were unlike those of others. She held the abilities to control the weather, elements, and even the stars in the heavens.  
  


She looked up when she heard someone enter the Library, but soon returned to her book. Her brown eyes read the pages carefully and she seemed to be driven with frustration as she heard her name. "Ororo," a deep voice sad as Bishop approached her. He had brown eyes, but much darker than Ororo's. His hair was black but looked blue under the glisten of light. "Dinner's done."  
  


"Thank you Bishop, I shall be down shortly," Ororo answered as she returned to her book, hoping that he would go downstairs. But she was unable to concentrate on the words while she continued to notice Bishop standing there in the corner of her eye. "Is there something you need?" she finally asked out of agitation.  
  


"What are you reading?" he asked as he walked over to her.  
  


She reluctantly closed the book and concealed the title as she stood up from her relaxed position. "It is none of your business. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to eat my dinner," she said as she brushed pass him in a rush.  
  


He lightly laid a hand on her shoulder, "There's something wrong, Ororo. And you know you can talk to me about it. I'm not your boyfriend so you can hide secrets from me. You should be able to talk to me... I want you to be able to talk to me."  
  


"Perhaps you are right," she said and turned around to look into his eyes. She held the book up and revealed the title: Lonely Songs. When noticing the perplexed look on Bishop's face she began to explain the book, "It is a novel about a child who lost her parents at a young age. Although it does not include the details of my past, it reminds me very much of everything I have gone through. Every time I read this book I cannot help but to remember my parents and what happened in Egypt. It makes me sad."  
  


"Then why don't you stop reading it? You should stop feeding all these bad memories to yourself to get sick off of," he said, pulling her close to him and allowing her to lay her head on his chest. This was one of his favorite things to do. To console her in her time of need and to have her head on his chest with the pleasantries of her perfume and peach body spray entering his nose.  
  


"You do not understand," she said, wrapping her arms around him. She was much shorter than he was, eight inches shorter, to be exact, but this difference in height made her feel comforted. To have someone big and strong holding her was more than enough to allow her to feel protected instead of a helpless child under a falling building.  
  


"What's there to understand? If it hurts you so much you should let it go," he mentioned again, holding her tighter than before as her arms fully wrapped around him.  
  


"I am unable to stop reading the book. Every time I read it I remember what my mother sounded like when she played with me, and I remember the stern stance of my father as he prepared to go out and work. Whenever he would get ready to go he would come and give me a kiss on my cheek and do the same to my mother. Although I was very young, I can somehow remember it all. Perhaps some memories are always in our minds," she paused for a moment, "We just need something to help us remember them."  
  


"So what do you do when you finish the book?" he asked, knowing that he was going to be unable to persuade her to let it go.  
  


"I have been contemplating giving Forge a visit," she said.  
  


"Forge?" Bishop asked in surprise. Despite having the "M" tattoo removed from his eye, Ororo had also influenced him in a hidden hatred for Forge. Forge, the man that had once proposed to Ororo, then lost the gut and took the proposal away. This had caused Ororo almost more the pain that she could bear. It was only a miracle that she had not taken his life.  
  


"With his expertise in time travel technology, I have been thinking about going back in time and preventing my parent's death," Ororo said, backing away from Bishop. She held the book in front of her with both hands and looked down at it.  
  


"That's a pretty good idea, but what will Charles say?" Bishop said. He was not normally one to be so laid back, he had been the member of a future time where mutants were hated and killed. When he had first come to the X- Men of the past he was very militant. The compassion of the Windrider, Ororo, had broken him down to a very understanding person.  
  


"This time Charles will not be saying much. He will not be able to dismay me from my decision. I have already made it and this is a definite choice. I need to do this," she says as she takes her eyes off the book and looks up to Bishop's face.  
  


"I'm going with you," he said as he bent down and planted a kiss on her nose then to her mouth.  
  


**April 17, 2002 6:30am EST Westchester, NY**  
  


"Charles, may I come in?" Ororo said with her white hair tied behind her head. She was an early morning person. She would garden her plants in the attic of the mansion while the dew was still on the grass outside. She was an excellent gardener due to her mutant abilities. She could create small rain clouds to water the plants and even call the attention of the sun, which would rise early in the morning to bring light to her plants. This morning, though, she did not do that. She had showered, dressed in a long skirt and blouse and sat in her room for an hour. Although Bishop was not an early person, she had convinced him to join her in the early morning hours to talk with Xavier.  
  


"Yes Ororo, please," the bald mentor said as he rolled from behind his desk in his contemporary wheelchair. "I am a bit surprised to see you this morning. What seems to be your concern?"  
  


"Charles, I have been thinking about getting in contact with Forge again. I want to use his time traveling technology to go back in time and rescue my parents from the crash that killed them, and perhaps myself from being traumatized with claustrophobia."  
  


"Ororo, I implore you to think this over before you take action," Xavier said, not wanting to release one of his most prized pupils.  
  


"Charles, she's already thought about it and she's capable of making her own decisions. You should know how much this hurts her," Bishop said with his cranky voice and a hand to his forehead. He knew the Professor was going to put up more of a fight than anyone.  
  


"But-" Charles began.  
  


Ororo cut him off, which was not like her at all, "Charles, this is something I must do. Please, give my apologies and love to the X-Men when they awake. As for now, I am no longer Storm of the X-Men. I am Ororo Munroe. Thank you for the time here, and if my path leads me back to this family, then I shall return. But as of right now, I do not see my staying with the X-Men apart of my destiny anymore. Charles, I am going to save my mother and father. I love them that much."  
  


What could the loving mentor due but to give her his blessings? He rolled to her with his wheelchair and took her hand. "Ororo, I trust you. Be careful."  
  


She bent down to give her 'adopted father' a hug before turning to Bishop. She held out her hands and took her X-Men costume from her boyfriend. She laid it out straight on Xavier's legs and turned to leave. "Thank you, Charles," she said and closed the door behind herself and Bishop.  
  


**To Be Continued...**  
  


_Footnote: Storm and Bishop? I'm trying the less popular relationships. Maybe it will turn out pleasurable?_


	2. Forge

A Plane Crash  
  
Author's Notes: Sorry it has taken so long to get chapter 2 written and published onto fanfiction.net. I took a week's vacation and with fan fiction's downtime recently, things were a little hectic. But here is Chapter 2.  
  
April 17, 2002 7:27am EST Westchester, NY  
  
With everything finally in place in and order, Bishop and Storm begin their venture to the current home of Forge. Forge had been known for his inventions, especially the time machine that had allowed Bishop to enter and stay in the current time period away from his future. His mutant abilities were quite unusual - to excessively comprehend computers and the like.  
  
Sitting in the driver's seat of a Ford Expedition, Bishop rested one hand on the steering wheel with shades over his eyes. The windows were down slightly, letting the springtime air pass by with comfort. With music lowly playing through the stereo, everything seemed to be running smoothly until Bishop let out a heavy sigh.  
  
"Is there something wrong, dear?" Storm asked as she looked over towards him. Prior to the sudden sound of Bishop yawning, Storm had been thinking to herself. Her elbow had been propped against the door handle and her palm had been supporting her chin.  
  
"Ororo, I've been thinking about this," he said, with another sigh as they drove along the mildly trafficked road. "Do you think this is a good idea? I know you have to be having second thoughts. I mean you're going back in time and save your parents and yourself from the plane crash. Do you understand the risks? You could end up never being an X-Man, never having the friends that you have now, and..." he paused.  
  
But before he was allowed to continue, Ororo finished his thoughts for him, "And never being able to fall in love with you?"  
  
"Yes," he said, almost so low that it could have been mistaken for a whisper.  
  
"The reason I am willing to make that sacrifice is because I believe that if our love was meant to be then there is nothing I can ever do to prevent that," she says as she lays a gentle kiss on his cheek while he continues to drive. She knew that changing her past would mean a lot of things. But all those things weren't as bad as they seemed when compared with relief from her claustrophobia, living a childhood of thefts, and the trauma of losing her parents. Surely Bishop could understand her.  
  
April 17, 2002 8:30am EST Newark, NJ  
  
Making their way into the driveway of a large complex, it could easily be recognized that Forge was the maintainer of all mechanics: when arriving in the driveway and passing a security pole, they heard a mechanical voice say, "Welcome Ororo Munroe and time traveler Bishop."  
  
"Now, explain to me again how you're going to persuade Forge to send you back in time," Bishop asked in confusion.  
  
"I never made a plan to persuade him, Bishop. I feel that he owes me this favor for the heartbreak he has caused me. And if he does not feel the same way there is always the threat of a lightning strike into that bionic arm of his!" Storm said. Bishop took his eyes off the driveway as they slowed to a stop. He was used to Storm becoming brute and sometimes irrational when remembering the pain Forge caused her.  
  
After opening his door and placing a foot on the asphalt-paved ground, Bishop put the SUV in parking gear and removed his key from the ignition. He then fully stood outside of the car and closed the door behind him. He and Storm met in front of the SUV and walked side-by-side towards the entrance of the complex. Being the militaristic man that he is, Bishop moved his massive body in front of Ororo's fit figure and knocked against the door with gloved hands.  
  
"Please enter," a mechanical voice said. Both Storm and Bishop had expected to have a hard time getting in with Forge, but things seemed well.  
  
"What brings you hear, friends?" Forge asked as he approached them in the foyer of the dark building.  
  
Storm was upset that he had referred to them as 'friends'. Was he able to forget all that he had done to her? He made the proposition to marry her and then via 'he say, she say' he had withdrawn and the proposition and left her life in shambles.  
  
When noticing that Storm couldn't respond to the question without raging in Forge's face, Bishop spoke up, "Ever hear of lights, Forge?" Only two wall sconces lit the large, empty foyer and three small windows that hardly let in light.  
  
Forge shrugged and turned towards the hallway that he had come from, "I noticed you two coming to the driveway so I thought I'd make my way down to greet you. I must admit though, I am rather busy. So if this is X-Men business you are here to discuss, you must know that I am currently not going to help you with any requests."  
  
"This is not X-Men business as you suggest," Ororo says with anger pitted deep in her voice.  
  
"I was hoping you'd say something," Forge said as he turned to face Storm, "I've longed to hear your voice again. I don't know how many times I can apologize to you for--"  
  
"Enough babble Forge. I am here to ask a favor of you. I need to use your time machine to go into my past in Cairo, Egypt," Storm said, cutting off Forge's apology.  
  
"Didn't I say I wasn't being apart of X-Men bus--"  
  
"This is not X-Men related. This is a personal journey," Storm said, cutting off Forge again.  
  
"Well, what is it about?"  
  
"Its content need not concern you," Storm said, losing her patience.  
  
"Well then, I'm not going to waste my time on this. Sorry, but I won't help you."  
  
"But--"  
  
"I said NO!" Forge yelled.  
  
"You watch your tone of voice, Forge!" Bishop yelled as he took a step closer to the old friend. "You'll watch your respect towards this woman! You owe her everything you have for hurting her!"  
  
"I owe her nothing anymore!" Forge yelled back at Bishop.  
  
"Please, just stop it!" Storm yelled from under Bishop's large shadow. "All I am asking is the courtesy of your expertise with mechanics to take me back in time to my years as a child in Cairo, Egypt - or if possible, during a child in New York City before my father took an assignment in Egypt."  
  
"I get it," Forge said, looking pass Bishop, as if ignoring he was there, "You want to save your parents from the--"  
  
"Yes, you are correct. Now please--"  
  
"So what is Bishop's business here?" Forge asked in disgust.  
  
"He will be assisting me in my venture," Storm said, much calmer than she had been only a minute ago.  
  
"Follow me," Forge finally said after turning towards the dim hallway again and beginning a pace towards his large laboratory.  
  
April 17, 2002 9:07am EST Newark, NJ  
  
"By the heavens," Storm finally asked through the silence, "How many procedures must we go through to prepare for this?"  
  
"You're ready now," Forge said as he pointed towards the vertical standing machine. It was 9 feet high, almost scratching the ceiling. It was wide enough for the accompaniment of 10 muscular men. The exterior of the machine was finished with a chrome glaze. Wires flowed to a machine where Forge stood.  
  
Bishop and Storm walked under the ceiling of the time machine and onto the heated floor. "I hope this works..." Forge mumbled his insecurities to himself. A whirring sound began as the machine displayed a number of blinding lights. "I'm sorry for ever mistreating you, Ororo," Forge spoke softly as Bishop and Storm disappeared under the lights of the machine and soon vanished. 


	3. Daddy's Voice

A Plane Crash  
  
Author's Notes: Finally, Chapter 3 is here. My apologies for causing such a long wait.  
  
July 10, 1982; 12:01 pm EST; Manhattan Island, New York, USA  
  
Ororo and Bishop find themselves on the island of Manhattan in New York City. It, like modern day New York, was busy as usual. Gladly, they did not end up on top of a skyscraper, but an alleyway between a deli and a dry cleaning business. Ororo looked at Bishop with a slight smile on her face, as she felt a bit accomplished. Persuading Forge to help them had been hard. Seeing his face and confronting him had been even harder. But she had succeeded. "Bishop, we made it," she says as she hugs him gently and he returns it.  
  
"Ororo, your eyes..." Bishop started before silencing. He just kept following and watching her eyes as they departed.  
  
"What?"  
  
"They're blue again, baby," he says with a confused look on his face.  
  
"Contacts," she says as she looks outside of the alleyway to see continuous blurs of cars passing, mostly yellow taxi cabs. "Bishop, shall we go purchase a newspaper. I believe we shall need to know what time we are in without raising suspicion." She began walking from the alley without waiting for an answer but was stopped by his massive hand tugging at her trailing arm.  
  
"I don't think that'll be smart," he says then explains, "Unless you have some coins dated back in the 70s and 80s."  
  
"Yes, you are correct. Then perhaps New York should feel a sudden gust of wind through its corridors of large buildings," she says as her voice turns into echo and her blue eyes turn into a foggy white. "Winds of this latter time, you will still obey my will!" she yells to the skies and they obey her will. Winds pick up speed from seemingly nowhere; so strong that they knock some people onto the gum-stained concrete sidewalks. But they recede quickly as Bishop runs into the midst of the New York City workers, who are on their lunch break, and gathers up a scattered newspaper.  
  
"Nice work," Bishop says as he returns with the newspaper, "And Forge didn't do too bad either. Even though we're in New York instead of Africa, we're definitely in the right time. Look," he points to the top of the newspaper, "1982. That would make you 6 years old?"  
  
"Yes, but we must hurry. My parents and their lives will be taken soon if we do not hurry. I loss them while I was 6," she says with eyes full of fear, anxiety, and anticipation as they turn from foggy white to their regular blue again.  
  
"I think we should find somewhere to eat first," Bishop answers as he rubs his stomach.  
  
"Perhaps you are correct," she says as she slides her arm into his arm and they walk out of the alleyway and join the normal blur of walkers down the street. They did not walk far before coming across a large pizza shop and walked inside, following an Asian couple talking in fluent Chinese.  
  
"Ororo, I've been thinking, and I'm wondering how are we going to get all the way to Egypt from here," Bishop asks as they line up in front of the glass counter where people are quickly being served their lunches and are paying their money to the Italian-accented owner of the shop.  
  
"I can easily fly the both of us there," Ororo answers as she steps forward in the line.  
  
"No you---" Bishop begins but is cut off by a loud 'NEXT!'.  
  
"Yes, may I have a chicken salad?" Ororo asks while looking through a purse, trying to find correctly dated bills and coins. This was one thing she hadn't counted on. There had been so many changes to the faces of the dollar that it would not be easy to pass them on but the coins would be easy if necessary.  
  
"I'm with her," Bishop says in his overpowering voice as the guy writes down Ororo's order. "I'll be having a cheese steak with fried onions."  
  
"Alright," the guy says as he finishes writing down the order and finally looks up to see the both of them. He jumped back in a shiver as he looked at Ororo's face. "Sorry, you look just like that Munroe girl," he pauses, quirks his eyebrows and then continues, "But a whole lot younger. You related to the Munroes?"  
  
"Yes," Ororo says with a slight smile as they move towards the cash register and the man yells the order to the other employees working the food. She mumbles under her breath, "More than you know."  
  
"Like I was saying," Bishop finally continues, "You can't fly the both of us over there nonstop. You can't move your wind that fast."  
  
"I can create a wind storm over the ocean with little effort that can carry us there faster than any plane of the early 80s. But we must not concern ourselves with travel yet; we must first discover if my parents have already taken me to Cairo. Perhaps we will not even have to step foot in Africa," Storm answers as the man comes to the register and looks at a small sheet of paper.  
  
"That'll be $7.02," the Italian-accented man says as he looks up from the sheet of paper.  
  
"Here you are," Ororo says with a mellow voice as she hands the man the money. He counts it and places it in the register. "You said you knew of the Munroes," Ororo says with curiosity, "Would you know how I could get in contact with them?"  
  
"Yes, if you wunna catch a flight to Cairo, Egypt. David Munroe was in her earlier sayin' he had an assignment there for the paper. I guess they'll be leavin' in a few hours."  
  
"Thank you," Ororo says as she walks down the glass counter and picks up her wrapped chicken salad and Bishop follows behind her, grabbing his cheese steak with massive hands.  
  
"Bishop, there is a phone book next to that phone," she points to a section in the pizza shop where a payphone is connected as they walk towards their seats.  
  
"I'll get it," he says, knowing that they could find the phone number and address that would direct them to the abode of David, N'Dare, and little Ororo Munroe. -------  
  
"This is the place," Ororo says as she looks to Bishop with eyes jumping around. She raised her hand to the door of the Victorian style house. Every joint ached as she felt her sweat glands open on her forehead. Seeing her parents again, seeing herself as a child, would be something she could never change. It could rewrite her entire history; make things totally different than they should be. As these thoughts decide to crowd the mind of the Windrider at this last instance, it was almost impossible to lift her arm any further than she had done already.  
  
"Ororo?" Bishop asked as he saw her hesitation.  
  
"N'Dare, did you pack Ororo's lightning picture? You know how much she loves that picture," came a strong male voice down the hall, near the elevator.  
  
Ororo's head quickly turned towards the elevator door as it closed and the response was muffled out. "Bishop, that was them!" she says as she turns around to face him. Tears were building in her eyes, "That was my father's voice!" 


	4. Thieves

**A Plane Crash**  
July 10, 1982; 1:01 pm EST; Manhattan Island, New York, USA 

Bishop stood in shock with Ororo wrapped in his arms. He did not know what to say. She had begun to tear up when she heard her father's voice, and he could understand why. Hearing the voice of someone you watched die over 20 years ago could be heart wrenching. He found it impossible to find the correct words to console the Windrider who had lost all forms of stern idealism in her eyes and actions.

"Bishop, I do not know if we should do this or not," she said looking down to the wristband that had been given to her by Forge. If desired, all she had to do was remove the wristband and she would return back to her normal time. She then looked up to Bishop with those natural blue eyes of her odd African priestess heritage with questions all over her face.

After thinking and sighing repeatedly Bishop finally answered her, "Ororo, do you really want to live with the grief that was caused by being in the wrong place at the wrong time for the rest of your life, or do you want to try and change it?"

"But Bishop, I am afraid," she said, turning away from him, trying to not allow him see the tears that were finally falling down her face.

"Don't be afraid," he said, spinning her around to face him. He lifted his massive hand to her face and gently wiped away the tears that were stretched down from her eyes to the bottom of her cheeks. "You're doing what you feel is right in your heart, babe, and you've lived too long with the pain of witnessing your parent's death. I think it's time you experience a little joy in your life," he said with a slight smile. It was unlike him to smile, just as much as it was unlike her to smile, but she responded with a slight smile as well. 

It was a situation where it was almost impossible to resist the heat and romance that had risen between them. Bishop slowly bent down his head as Ororo involuntarily lifted herself up by standing on her toes and they both met with a kiss. Her arms draped around his neck as she pulled him down to her level. His large biceps moved around her back and his hands down to her waist. It seemed only to soon for Ororo that they parted with a little bit of each other left on their lips.

"Bishop, let us go find my family."

July 10, 1982; 2:30 pm EST; Manhattan Island, New York, USA 

"Thank you," Ororo said as she paid the taxi cab driver and then exited, joining Bishop on the sidewalk.

"Tell me again why we didn't fly," Bishop asked with frustration. Sitting in the back of a maniac New York driver and then have to smell the stench of his cigarettes was enough to make him prefer fighting Apocalypse.

"Bishop, you know as well as I do that New York City and Northern Jersey do not need to see a white haired lady flying through skyscrapers with a large man hanging onto her waist," she said while nearly chuckling as the cab drove off. She took Bishop's hand and looked at the large airport in front of them.

"Newark airport," Bishop said to himself as he also looks at the airport. "How are we going to find them?"

"The information desk," she said with a bit of sarcasm. Maybe it was the anxiety or the hopefulness that she would be able to save her parents that was making Ororo come out of her controlling shell. She had constantly kept her emotions in check for the past years with Xavier to make sure her powers wouldn't rage out of control. It would only be seldom she would laugh, smile, become depressed, devastated, harsh, or even open about her feelings. Although it was unhealthy for her to keep all her feelings bottled up inside of her, it was healthy for everyone else around her, unless the ecosystem suffered her wrath. 

Bishop did not know how to respond to this sudden change in Ororo so he did not say anything. He just began to walk towards the entrance of the large complex with Ororo's hand in his own. 

As they approached the large desk they bypassed many of the people who were already in line to speak with the lady who was slowly working at the front. "Excuse me," Bishop said with ease in his voice as he propped his elbows onto the counter and looked at the lady who was gazing at the illuminated computer screen. 

"To the back of the line," she said, not even looking up at him. 

"No, you're playing games on this computer like an idiot. We don't have the time to sit here and wait for you to figure things out. You should've been trained for this already!" Bishop said, quickly becoming infuriated. 

"Bishop, please calm down," Ororo said, placing an arm across his large triceps and calming him. "All we need is for you to tell us where the Munroe party is supposed to be taking off at." 

The lady looked up from the computer and stared at Ororo. "You know you look just like their daughter, Ororo. Are you related to them?" 

"Yes, I am," Ororo said with a confused look on her face. "Is there anyone in this entire area that does not know of them?" 

"Maybe not. Everyone loves them. N'Dare is a sweet lady," she says while hitting a few keys on her keyboard. "I'm sorry, it looks like their flight has just taken off," she says, pointing at the screen and making an imaginary line across it to make sure she's correct. "They just left from Gate D25 to Cairo, Egypt."

"Thank you," Ororo said with a scratchy voice as Bishop released her hand and they both ran towards the D-section of the building.

"Ororo, maybe a thunderstorm would slow down the air traffic process!" Bishop yelled to her over the voices of the other people who are making their way through the airport. 

"But my eyes," Ororo noted, "Someone will be sure to notice they are fully white." 

"It doesn't matter. You want your parents right?" he asked as he knocked over a man who decided to position himself in the middle of the walkway. 

Ororo grunted as a large roll of thunder rattled the airport and the sky grew extremely dark from bulky, gray clouds. Another grunt came from her throat as the sky field with lightning and then a second later the unexpected rain began to pelt against the windows and the ground outside.

"HEY YOU!" came a loud shout from a security guard who had been standing at his post when he saw Ororo and Bishop sprinting through the airport. "Stop running!" When he noticed they were not even listening to him, he walked in the middle of the walkway with his arms spread out, making himself into a roadblock. 

"Ororo!" Bishop exclaimed to her and she knew immediately what he meant. A gust of wind came from nowhere, knocking down back the officer with force. 

"Bishop!" Ororo yelled as she came to a completed stop and pointed at the D25 waiting area. It was completely empty, and outside of the large window, the plane was not there. "They must have departed shortly before the storm began. They must not be harmed in the storm's turbulence." Her eyes turned white again and the sky immediately cleared, leaving only the rain-washed windows and the soaked ground as any evident that there had been any type of precipitation in the area.

"What do we do now? We do not have nearly enough money of this time period to be able to pay for a flight and you do not trust me to fly us all the way to Cairo," Ororo asks, pouting, with her arms crossed over her chest. 

"Why don't we catch a ride on the plane?" Bishop asks. 

"I just told you we do not have nearly enough money—." 

"No, not in the plane," he says slyly with a dazzle in his eyes, "On the plane." 

"You can fly us to the plane and buckle us down with your wind." 

"Bishop, your idea would destroy the appropriate dynamics for the plane and cause it malfunction." 

"So what do you suggest?" he asks, now finally realizing that his idea was foolish. 

"I do not know." 

"Hmm," Bishop ponders, putting his fist to his chin, "Wasn't Xavier in Egypt around this time?" 

"Yes he was, but how could that possibly help us." 

"We can fly one of his jets. You know the controls to all of his equipment like the back of your hand." 

"That is true. Hopefully he has already based himself and the mansion in Westchester." 

"Well, let's get going," Bishop said with haste.

_I'm coming to save you father and mother, _Ororo said within herself as she and Bishop made their way out of the airport. _And I'm coming to save myself from the pain of never knowing you like I desire._


	5. In Egypt

**A Plane Crash**

_July 10, 1982; 3:15pm EST; Westchester, New York, USA_

"Apparently the Professor has left the mansion without someone to abide in it," Ororo said from her seat on a strong branch outside of the Institute's perimeter. "Getting in should be fairly easy."

"I don't know about that, babe," Bishop said, perching in another branch as he blocked the sun's rays with his hand over his eyes. "It looks like Charles has put the Institute in 'Kill-Whatever-Moves-Mode'. I guess he's really protective over his little secret right about now."

"First I shall deal with the cameras," she said as she floated from her perch in the tree and her eyes turned white. Immediately fog began to overwhelm the area in a thick cloak, limiting even her own vision. "We shall tunnel through the basketball courts to get to one of the mini-jets!" Ororo ordered as she and Bishop charged through the front gate of the Estate. Immediately the motion detectors went crazy and random shots of laser beams were being fired from ground-based cannons.

__

"I'm ready, 'Ro!" Bishop said as he stood on the fog-covered basketball court with his fists pointed downwards towards the ground. "Charge me up!" From her position in the sky, Ororo held her hand down and lightning crashed into Bishop's body, dousing him with kinetic energy as he painlessly absorbed every bit of it. His eyes were closed as he focused the stored energy towards his fists and released it into the ground below his feet. The burst of energy created a big hole in the basketball court. He jumped down, followed by Ororo's hovering body as she gracefully made her way towards one of the mini-jets.

"I told you it would be fairly easy," Ororo said as her static energy disoriented the security system within the hangar.

"Yeah yeah," Bishop grumbled as he boarded the jet and prepared himself for a long flight. "Babe, I just have one question for you."

"And what is that, Bishop?" Ororo said as she began to start the brand-new engines on the jet and the panel began to light up.

"What if I have to... you know... pee?" he asked. Ororo had no answer.

_July 10, 1982; 11:45 pm GMT+2; Cairo, Egypt, Africa_

"Bishop, vacate the jet at this very moment!" Ororo shouted as she angrily opened the overhead hatch for herself and exited the mini-jet. She rubbed her forehead as she breathed in the heavy and humid night air of Cairo.

"But Ororo—," Bishop said, trying to mend broken wounds with smooth talk.

"Do not _but _me!" she commanded as she turned around. "Handle your business because if you mention to me one more time that you must... urinate, curse that forbidden word, then I shall have to handle my business, and it has nothing to do with the removal of my own bodily fluids."

That threat was enough to get Bishop to go behind a tree and sigh in relief. Ororo scanned the dark marketplace that was approximately a mile away from where they had landed. She closed her eyes, trying to envision her past in Cairo. The task of remembering was easy; she could probably pinpoint every alleyway, street, and dark corner because of her days as a thief. She strictly remembered where the apartment was at; she had walked past it several times while it remained a large pile of debris on the ground.

Bishop came from behind the tree with a sneeze, "So, where are we going?"

"Nowhere tonight," Ororo sighed. "We have time to plan a strategy and to rest."

"What kinda strategy can you plan?" Bishop chuckled as he stood next to Ororo, putting his arm around her waist. "We're gonna get you and your parents out of the building before the plane crashes, and voila, we're done."

"It is not as simple as that," Ororo frowned. "There are a number of hazardous things we need to watch out for, this includes mutant-hate hysteria, which might rise if we use our abilities in public. We must also be weary of the war that is taking place, despite tonight's eerie silence. And, we must keep our minds and bodies away from Xavier. He is in Cairo, and to reveal ourselves is to put our minds at risk of being probed and could change his dream of mutant-human peace if he does not like what the future has to offer."

"Stop being so uptight woman," Bishop laughed as he nudged her slightly away from him. "You're always so... groany and groggy. Loosen up a bit."

"Groggy?" Ororo frowned. "Just for that, there will be no loosening up tonight!" She walked towards the jet, purposely sashaying before getting inside and locking it closed.

"Aw, 'Ro!" Bishop said with his arms out while he walked towards the jet. "Why you gotta be so sensitive?" Fog covered the windows of the jet as Ororo gave him the silent treatment and ignored the rest of his pleas. He finally gave up and laid on the ground, grumbling, "Women."

_July 11, 1982; 11:58 am GMT+2; Cairo, Egypt, Africa_

"Bright Lady!" Ororo frowned as she woke up inside the jet and looked down at her watch. The time zone changes, the time travel, and the fly overseas must have completely worn her out. She opened the jet and looked around, finding Bishop nowhere in sight. "Where is he?" she frowned, running her fingers through her tied and nappy hair.

_July 11, 1982; 12:30 pm GMT+2; Cairo, Egypt, Africa_

"Yeah, weather this time of the year is cooler than usual," a woman with a southern American accent smiled. "This is what we consider Winter so close to the equator. It's pretty mild."

Bishop looked at her with his eyebrows quirked upwards and a look of slight interest on his face. "What the—," Bishop said as he looked up and saw the clouds suddenly darken. It surprised everyone there when snow began to fall from the dark sky and cool winter air began to blow through the marketplace. "Ororo," Bishop mumbled. "Showoff to the core."

"This will teach him not to leave me all alone in a jet," Ororo said, standing on top of a building with her hands at her side and her white hair blowing in one direction with the wind. She closed her eyes as the cool air brushed against her neck and she tilted her head backward, enjoying the feel of the snow falling on her face and quickly melting as it dripped down her smooth, chocolate skin.

The marketers and traders below were not so enthusiastic with the white precipitation as the ground began to slowly freeze and the buyers, dressed for hot weather, began to make their ways to their homes under the unpredictable change in weather.

"Gotcha!" a voice said from behind Ororo. She turned around and was met with a bombardment of muscles as Bishop wrapped her in his arms. He smiled as his brown eyes looked into hers deeply.

Ororo smiled, playfully, as her body became surrounded with brilliant lightning, causing Bishop to release his grasp. He absorbed the shock and then grinned as he watched Ororo jump down from the building's roof and run in the snow. He jumped down behind her, laughing as he chased her down, not noticing the angry looks of dissatisfied merchants as they kicked snow on their carts.

"It's snow, just like at home!" a familiar voice said, coming from a white-haired, six-year-old girl who was picked up by her mother off of the icy ground. The snow stopped. Ororo stopped running. Bishop's smile vanished. For a second, everything was silent.

"Yes, honey," N'Dare, Ororo's mother, smiled as she spoke with an African accent. "It's very strange. The snow don't usually fall here."

"Where's daddy? Does daddy see the snow?" little Ororo asked with a smile on her face as she played in her mom's hair.

"Bright Lady, you are getting heavy Ororo," N'Dare grunted. "We are going to go see daddy now. He's in the apartment. Can you walk in the snow?" Ororo nodded and the two began to walk towards the apartment building.

Ororo stood, silent and frightened as she watched her mother and her younger-self walk away. For a moment she wouldn't even breathe, hoping somehow she was becoming camouflaged with the snow and scenery.

"C'mon babe, we got to stop them!" Bishop said, grabbing her arm and attempting to pull her, but she wouldn't budge.

"I... they... I can't," Ororo said, finally. She hung her head and looked down at the ground. The skies began to clear up completely and the hot sun began to melt the ice and snow almost instantly as temperatures quickly rose.

"Look 'Ro!" Bishop said, almost vehemently, as he grabbed both of Ororo's arms and frowned. His dominant, male characteristics began to take over as Ororo stood silently in his shadows, looking up to him like a daughter does to her father. "We came all the way through time and space to do this. You want your claustrophobia gone? You want your parents alive? Stop being such a wimp and get the job done!"

"Bishop, I can't!" Ororo yelled with tears in her eyes.

"You can and you will!" Bishop frowned. "You lead the X-Men against the most ruthless of villains, villains who would've killed us if they could have! You've helped save the lives of thousands, millions even. But you're scared to save your own parents?!"

"I am not frightened to save them!" Ororo said, pushing Bishop away from her and then turning around she no longer had to face him. She wrapped her arms around herself, "I am worried about how this could change everything!"

"This ain't a time for remorse," Bishop said, no longer angry. "It's a time for action. Now are you gonna go through with this or what?"

"I suppose that decision is already made," Ororo sighed, looking up to the sky. Just then the bomb alert siren came on, sending a loud scream of noise throughout Cairo.


	6. Happily Ever After

A Plane Crash  
  
**July 11, 1982; 12:38 pm GMT+2; Cairo, Egypt, Africa**

"Mommy, you're pretty," little Ororo said as she and her mother walked to the door of their apartment.

"Thank you," her mother smiled. "You are very beautiful too little one. That's why we named you Ororo; because it means beauty." Ororo giggled as she and her mother entered the apartment. The bomb alert siren had only lasted for a few seconds. This had been happening for quite awhile now. The siren would sound but would quickly be turned off after the threat was quickly averted.

"Mommy, why do I have white hair?" she asked. Her mother closed the apartment door.

Ororo and Bishop turned the corner of the wall they had been leaning against. "You were an annoying little kid," Bishop chuckled.

"Yes, but now I am a stern, mature woman who has the ability to wield lightning," Ororo said as a playful threat.

"So what's our plan of action?" Bishop asked, lifting his brown eyes towards the door where little Ororo and her parents were. "Evidently this is the day we came back to change."

"Surprise!" came a yell from Ororo's dad inside the apartment. Ororo quickly had a flashback. It was all coming back to her... this very day, the day that her parents would die and she gain her claustrophobia was her birthday!

Her eyes began to water as she turned away from the door and began walking towards the staircase that had brought them up to this floor. She couldn't cry. She wouldn't cry. She just needed time to recuperate. When she had finished hovering down several flights of stairs and was back outside of the apartment building the snow was melted and the sun was back to its normal scorching presence.

Bishop had stayed upstairs. If Ororo was too scared to go through with it, he would. He knocked on the apartment door immediately after the "Happy Birthday" song was done.

"Who is it?" came a man's voice from inside the apartment. At the same time the door was opened. "Who are you?" Ororo's father asked, using his muscular body to block the doorway.

"Are you David Munroe?" Bishop asked, putting out his hand for a handshake.

David frowned, "I know who I am; that wasn't the question."

"My name's Bishop – John Bishop," he answered, his hand still extended outward.

"Mr. Bishop," David said. "What's your business at my door?" David was very precautious with people while this war was going on. He was especially cautious now that an American was at his door.

"Mr. Munroe, your family is in danger," Bishop said sternly. "If you don't leave this apartment within the next few hours you and your wife will die." David frowned and slammed the door in his face.

"So much for the passive, direct approach," Bishop mumbled to himself, leaning against the wall.

**July 11, 1982; 12:50 pm GMT+2; Cairo, Egypt, Africa**

Ororo was sitting on the roof of the apartment complex, her hair resting on her back and shoulders, as the still air sent no relief to the sun's rays. The clear, blue sky was one to be remembered. How many times had she taken a perfect sky away from unsuspecting people? Too many times. And why had she done it? Of course the obvious answer was she needed to do so to fulfill her duties as an X-Man, bringing rain to the nicest of days, freezing temperatures to the normal hardships of winter, and scorching heat to the humid and dry summers. And she had done all these things to help the X-Men. Or had she?

Why had she agreed to join the X-Men? What person in his or her right mind would leave worship, adoration, and peace for a life of being a 'do-gooder'? Perhaps being alone in her sanctuary had left her with nothing to do except think of the miseries of her childhood while she waited for the next burnt offering to be sent up to her throne. When Xavier came she had complied so quickly and easily to join him in rescuing his original team. Had she been hoping, all this time, that someone would come to take her away? Maybe that's why she had left. Maybe that's why she had taken perfect skies and turned them into gray nightmares for the past few years. Maybe that's all the X-Men meant to her: an escape from emotional torment.

If that was all the X-Men meant to her then it wasn't worth reminiscing about. She lifted her head and wiped her moist eyes before standing up on the roof and looking into the clear sky once more. She was going to go through with her task. Her future and the meaning of her life depended on her changing her past.

Just as she turned away from the sky she heard an explosion in the air. She lifted her eyes once more to the bright sky to see a fiery object falling quickly towards her position. She lifted her hands immediately and the blue sky was gray in a matter of seconds, spewing rain and wind in a confused maelstrom. Ororo quickly went through her arsenal of weaponry in such a situation. A tornado would through the jet off course but would also destroy the entire city. Lightning might knock the jet off course but might also cause it completely explode and rain oil and fire. Ice would freeze the jet quickly but would still cause it to fall. There was only one way that she could think of in the little time she had: a direct approach. She quickly flew from the roof, her hands stretched out towards the falling jet as wind began to push against the jet and slow it's free fall.

The bomb alert siren began to alarm and the people below screamed as they ran away from the falling fire. "Bright Lady, give me the strength!" Ororo grunted. Her eyes were closed completely as her eyebrows quivered under the pressure. The jet was still falling at an alarming rate.

... 

Outside the Munroe's apartment door Bishop had pulled out one of his futuristic weapons and was aiming it at the door. He quickly pulled the trigger and with skill shot directly into the keyhole of the doorknob, opening the door. He let himself in and quickly spotted the family who were still unaware of the falling aircraft.

"What do you think you're doing?" David Munroe yelled at Bishop quickly standing to his feet before noticing the big gun in the man's hand.

"Listen to me," Bishop unconsciously waving the weapon in the air. "I want each of you out of this apartment right now!" His voice was commanding but all they saw was the man's weapon as they slowly made their way towards him. "Hurry up!" Bishop's eyes widened and the gun dropped from his hand as the plane crashed into the apartment building and the flames quickly engulfed the room.

"Ah!" N'Dare, Ororo's mother, grunted as she fell to the floor from the impact, taking her daughter and husband down with her. Bishop could no longer see them through the heavy smoke.

"Stay low!" David commanded his family and they crawled quickly across the floor. Perhaps to quickly and with not enough caution. The floor began to cave in below them and all of a sudden broke loose.

"Daddy!" little Ororo screamed with fear as she fell towards the room of flames below.

"Ororo!" David and N'Dare yelled in unison as they watched their daughter fall towards the fire.

"I have you," Ororo said, rescuing her younger self from falling into the flames. She held herself, or rather her younger self, tightly as she flew between the flames on the ceiling and the flames on the floor and out of the glassless windows of the apartment building. "I am going to put you down," Ororo said. "But you must not come back towards this building. I will rescue my – your parents." Little Ororo was whimpering as tears fell from her face. They finally escaped the overwhelming heat and smoke of the building and the scorching ninety degrees actually felt like a cool breeze.

Ororo placed her younger self on the ground away from the building, "Stay here, little one." Ororo flew back into the building carried by the winds as she listened to the prayers of her father. She used his voice to find him.

"Let go of the wood," Ororo said as she hovered near her father. "Do not be alarmed, I am going to take you to safety." She smiled, putting on as friendly as an expression as she could while trying her best not to choke from the overwhelming smoke. David quickly complied and took her hand. "Where is my mother?" Ororo asked.

"Who?" David said, choking as he did so.

"N'Dare," she said. "Where is N'Dare?"

"She fell," he said with overwhelming sadness in his voice. She had not noticed his tears until just then and had only begun to comprehend what the prayers he was saying were about when she had reentered the building.

Ororo quickly flew out of the building with her father meeting the bright light and the cooler air once more before placing him down on the ground and falling on her knees. "Why?" she cried, tears falling from her face. "Bright Lady, why did you have to take her?"

"Daddy, why is the angel crying?" little Ororo asked, grabbing her father's arms. "And where's mommy?" Tears began to well up in her eyes as she looked at her father's grim expression.

"David!" came N'Dare's familiar voice, "Ororo!" Both little Ororo and older Ororo lifted their heads as N'Dare called their – her name.

"Bishop! You rescued her!" Ororo smiled as she Bishop approached her with burns and wounds all over his tattered body. "Thank you!" Ororo got up out of the sand and ran to Bishop, embracing him tightly and then turned to look at her family and herself who were all safely huddled with each other.

"Mommy, the angel rescued me!" little Ororo said, pointing to Ororo, who did not notice she was wearing silvery-white clothing until now. She guessed she would look like the typical angel.

"Who are you?" David asked, walking in front of his family and to Ororo, squinting his eyes as he looked inside of her blue orbs. "I know you... don't I?"

"You never will know me as I am today," Ororo sighed as her body began to dissipate. Before long Bishop's body began to do the same. The future was changing and these two did not exist to have ever been known as they were. "What will happen to us?" she asked Bishop, lifting her eyes towards him and slowly inching towards him.

"Like I told you before, if we're meant to be together, we'll find each other," he said. "Somehow we'll find each other."

"Bishop, I love you," she said, as tears began falling down her face. The two embraced and stared in each other's eyes before inching even closer for their last kiss.

"Don't go!" little Ororo yelled, running towards their fading bodies and hugging their legs. Before long she was embracing nothing but air.

**January 2003**

The world was completely changed, thanks to Ororo's venture into her past. There had never been a woman named Storm of the X-Men. She had never met Jean Grey, Scott Summers, Professor Xavier, or any of the other people who had become her surrogate family. She had her real family this time around.

With Storm having no part in the X-Men, having never been recruited by Xavier to rescue the original X-Team there was no such thing as the X-Men. Jean, Polaris, Iceman, et cetera... they had all perished on the island of Krakoa. When the newly formed team had come to the rescue they had also perished. Without Storm there they didn't have the ability to defeat the monster. There was no one to give Polaris the charge she needed.

With no X-Men in existence it was a piece of cake for Magneto to start his mutant-human war. After he had won the war he had decided not to oppress the humans who were yet alive and now there was harmony amongst North and South America. No anti-mutant hysteria, no lifetime of fighting. Everything had completely changed.

**November 27, 2003; 12:00pm EST; Myrtle Beach, SC**

"With the power invested in me by the Lord God Almighty and the legal rights given to me by our earthly leader King Magnus, I now pronounce thee man and wife," the young minister said as he closed the marriage book in front of him and smiled at the two newlyweds. "You may kiss the bride."

Tensions in the sanctuary went to their all time highs as the veil was lifted off of the beautiful woman's face. She was twenty-six years old, the daughter of a successful journalist, the best weatherwoman the world had to offer, and now she was married. Ororo Munroe, whose legal name was now Ororo Bishop, wrapped her arms around her husband, John Bishop, and kissed him after they connected lips.

"John, you've made me the happiest woman alive," Ororo smiled as they released from the kiss.

"You're an amazing woman, Ororo," he said

Ororo walked with her husband down the aisle, smiling at family, and waving at longtime friends. They walked outside of the church and were met with fireworks being produced by their adopted daughter Jubilation Lee. Up in the sky was a banner being flown around by their friend from Mississippi, Tracey Lincoln. She grinned from the sky, her auburn hair blowing with its white streak.

Ororo smiled at her friend and then slowly her countenance began to drop. "What's the matter, love?" John asked, looking her in the eye as they stood outside the church.

"I can't but help think this life is too perfect for me," she said, lifting her eyes to the sky. "The angel that saved me... I can't help but to think she was a sad person. If she was sad what gives me the right to be happy?"

"Whoever she was," he said, kissing her on the forehead. "She rescued you and your family for a reason... and that reason is that she wanted you to be happy. To never have to go through whatever hardships she knew you would one day experience."

"You know what," Ororo smiled. "You're absolutely right. I thank God for that." Who would've ever thought a plane crash could change so much?


End file.
